Dawn
by nerdcoast
Summary: WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD! Do not read if you have not seen the new episode. This takes place not long after Gail and Holly's last scene together.


**_WARNING! SPOILERS! If you have yet to see the season premiere then don't read this yet. _**

**_This is just a quick little one shot I have had stuck in my head since I watched the new episode._**

* * *

Morning was just beginning to set in. The day was fresh, and crisp, offering its bounty up to the people of Toronto. It was just like any other morning from the outside looking in, but Holly wasn't just looking in anymore. She had found herself gracelessly dropped straight into the middle, no longer a bystander or spectator but a somewhat perplexed participant, a very exhausted one at that.

Holly stood in front of her kitchen sink, mindlessly gazing out of the window before her. She seemed to be staring straight through the empty space, through the glass, through everything the barely dim world put in front of her. The smell of fresh coffee brewing drew her back into focus. She pushed her glasses up her face, making room for the fingers that were now rubbing her eyes raw. The past 24 hours played through her mind. It felt more like a year than a day. Holly found herself slightly amused at the prospects. Maybe time wasn't linear after all, there was no way so much had been jammed into a simple day. She pushed the thought from her mind and grabbed a mug from the cabinet.

With a freshly poured cup, Holly took back her territory before the window, this time actively looking instead of just looking through. Dawn had barely broken the horizon, just the first light of morning really. She watched as people began to stumble sleepily from their homes, unaware of what had transpired in their own city, the number of lives that had almost been lost. It was almost an envious feeling that overcame her, a desperate plea for a simpler time. But that would also be a time without Gail, and that was something Holly was not willing to relinquish back to the world.

Resigned from these thoughts, Holly set her mug down and climbed the stairs to the second floor. She paused for a moment outside of her bedroom and listened to the silence of Gail sleeping peacefully just behind the door. She felt her heart flutter for only a brief moment before she pulled herself back and towards her bathroom. Evidence of Gail's desperate attempts to reset time was strewn out on every surface. Small little clipping of blonde hair dusted the floor, larger clippings sat in the sink, some even still clinging to the sides of the bathtub.

Her bourbon sat abandoned by her hamper, Gail's empty glass from a few hours ago beside it. Holly capped the bottle and put it to the side. She reached for the glass, easily finding the lip print left behind by the cop in her bed. Flashes of barely two hours ago rushed into her mind. Holly sat down on the floor, taking up residence of the same spot Gail had been in earlier. Her fingers found the lip of the glass and ran smoothly along the edge, stopping when they reached Gail's lip print. Gail's lips, the very ones that had been on this glass, the same ones now ran through Holly's thoughts. She closed her eyes and let herself day dream for a moment about how many times those lips had been on hers in the span of possibly the longest 24 hours of her life. Images of the interrogation room slammed into her mind, followed by the brief kiss she had given Gail in the hospital parking lot, and then of course the many that had followed in this very room, in her bathtub of all places. She had never seen Gail look at her like that before, so honest and wanting. It had been everything she could do not to take her to bed and make love to her right then. No, instead Holly had given Gail and herself a much needed cold shower. She claimed to have done it to clean Gail up, but they both knew it was mostly meant to sober her up, and unadmittedly to reel Holly back from her growing arousal. Holly had managed to tone down her desire, just enough so that when Gail stripped from the soaking wet clothes, Holly had refrained from acting on it, even if she had let her eyes wander. She had done a pretty damn good job if she was going to be honest. She had put Gail to bed in some of her more comfortable clothes, and made her way downstairs to stare blindly out her window.

Holly put the glass back down and stood from her spot. After quickly depositing the glass out of her way, she began to clean up the left over mess from Gail's drunken panic attack. After scrubbing down the bathtub, she pulled a small dustpan and brush out and swept up the remnants of Gail's hair.

Holly had always been attracted to Gail, from the second she met her she found her absolutely stunning, and yes, she would admit that she loved her long blonde hair. But there was something about this new haircut that Holly found herself drawn to as well. She couldn't quite put a finger on it yet, but she really, truly loved it, maybe even a bit more than her long hair.

She put the brush and dustpan back in its rightful spot and took a moment to glance into the trashcan that now held what was left of Gail's long hair. She grabbed the bottle of alcohol and its partnered glass and headed back into the kitchen.

With the glass deposited in the sink, Holly stretched to place the bottle back in the cabinet. Gentle hands wrapped around her middle, and Holly was instantly hit with warmth in her chest. She shut the cabinet door and turned to find a sleepy Gail holding her steady at the waist.

"Gail, what are you doing down here? You should be asleep." However correct the statement was, Holly couldn't help but smile at the blonde's sudden appearance.

Gail pulled her head back from Holly's chest and met Holly's eyes. "I got cold."

She couldn't help the small laugh that escaped her lips. "Gail, honey, there are like half a dozen blankets at the end of the bed and in the closet."

"God, Holly, sometimes I wonder how you managed to become a doctor." One of Holly's eyebrows rose as she gave Gail her best questioning glance, only to be met with a roll of Gail's eyes. "You dummy, that was your cue to come to bed with me, keep me warm."

Holly rolled her eyes back, even though her smile gave her away. She dropped a light kiss to Gail's lips and stepped back from her arms. "Go ahead, I'll be right up, I promise."

Gail leaned in and placed her own small kiss on Holly's lips and sauntered back up the stairs. Holly turned back towards the window and took a look out at the now slightly brighter day. She slid her glasses off, leaving them on the kitchen counter and stared back up the stairs, intending to hold true on her promise to join Gail in bed. Maybe that was what the both needed, just to start fresh with a new day. And if Gail wanted to do that in Holly's arms, who was she to say no?


End file.
